I thank
thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hidden these
things from the wise

and understanding
and revealed them to babes; yea, Father, for such was thy gracious will

THE PARABLE OF THE WEEDSBy Edgar Jones

Immediately after relating the Parable of the Sower,
Matthew (and only Matthew) has Jesus proceed with the Parable of the Weeds.
This was not merely incidental. These parables are companions,
each complimenting the other. Apart from one, the other stands incomplete.
In the prior paper on The Sower, I made
the following comparison between the two:

[24] Another parable
he put before them, saying, The kingdom of heaven may be compared
to a man who sowed good seed (sperma)
in his field;[25] but while men were sleeping, his enemy came and
sowed weeds (zizanion) among
the wheat (sitos), and went away.
[26] So when the plants came
up and bore grain, then the weeds (zizanion) appeared also. [27] And the servants of the householder came and said
to him, `Sir, did you not sow good seed (sperma) in your field? How then has it weeds (zizanion)
?'
[28] He said to them, `An
enemy has done this.' The servants said to him, `Then do you want us to
go and gather them?' [29] But he said, `No; lest in gathering the weeds
(zizanion) you root up the wheat (sitos)
along with them.
\[30] Let both grow together
until the harvest; and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Gather
the weeds (zizanion) first and bind
them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat (sitos) into my barn.'"

Jesus also interpreted this parable. Here is his interpretation,
after which we will follow with our comments.

[36] Then
he left the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples came to
him, saying, "Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field."
[37] He answered, He who
sows the good seed (sperma) is
the Son of man; [38] the field is the world, and the good seed
(sperma) means the sons of the
kingdom, the weeds (zizanion) are the
sons of the evil one.
[39] and the enemy who sowed
them is the devil; the harvest is the close of the age, and the reapers
are angels. [40]
Just as the weeds (zizanion) are gathered
and burned with fire, so will it be at the close of the age. [41]
The Son of man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom
all causes of sin and all evildoers, [42]
and throw them into the furnace of fire; there men will weep and gnash
their teeth. [43]
Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father.
He who has ears, let him hear.

The Comments

1. The Sower

The sower of the good seed is the son of man, which is Jesus. This
corresponds with the implicit identification of the sower in the Parable
of the Sower, although Jesus, in interpreting that parable, does not identify
the sower. We will not err in identifying the two. In addition, Jesus
has, through his Word, so fully identified himself with his disciples that
today, as his disciples continue to sow the good seed in the world, it is
the Son of Man who sows.

2. The Good Seed

Also, in the Parable of the Sower, we learn that the sower sows the Word (Mark 4:14, Luke 8:11), but here the
identification differs:

. . .the good seed (sperma)
means the sons of the kingdom. . . ..

But does this really
differ? It is difficult to see how the sower is sowing the sons of
the kingdom like seeds, whereas we see the real intent of the whole process
is the ingathering into the barn that occurs at the harvest, when

. . . the righteous will shine like
the sun in the kingdom of their Father.

A comparison of the parable with its interpretation by Jesus above
shows that this can only correspond to the ingathering into the barn of the
sons of the kingdom. Therefore, I conclude that the Word is the seed,
as with the Parable of the Sower, and it is identified with the sons of
the kingdom here because that is what, when sowed in the world, produces
the sons of the kingdom. There is an essential relation that renders
them inseparable in the complete picture.This identification
is effective both ways, for as the seed produces the sons of the kingdom,
so the Son of Man continues throughout history to sow the seed of the Word
through the joint agency of the Holy Spirit and the sons of the kingdom.
The Greek for seed here is sperma,which
is the source of our English sperm. This differs from
sporos, which is the Greek used by Luke to define
the seed in the Parable of the Sower (Luke 8:11). However, both Greek
terms spring from speiro, to sow, and it is doubtful whether
this difference is significant in these parables. Sperm
evolved from the Greek, and it's meaning has not changed. In the
Septuagent it is the semen virile(Lev. 15-16-18)
and so also is our English word. Jesus made repeated use of this
analogy throughout the gospels.

3. The Bad Seed
The inclusion of two kinds of seed here forces us to focus our
attention on the seed. This is therefore the primary focus of this
parable, and we will miss the the force of it if we do not examine this
carefully so as to provide the correct identification for the bad seed,
that Jesus identifies as follows:

. . . the weeds (zizanion)
are the sons of the evil one.

We find this quest for identification to be an easy
one, leading us immediately to this:

[44] You are of your father the devil, and
your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from
the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no
truth in him. When he lies, he speaks according to his own nature, for he
is a liar and the father of lies.

It is a temptation to identify those to whom Jesus addressed these
words with the Pharisees, scribes and rulers of the Jews who so often take
the brunt of his vitriol. But that is not the identification
applied to these sons of the evil one by the
evangelist, who carefully states that these were Jews who had believed in
Jesus (John 8:31). Yet, as in the parable, these are sons of the evil
one, the devil, and therefore must be included in Jesus' identification of
the bad seed in the parable. Our most specific and definition of the
sons of the evil one, the products of the bad seed, consists of Jews who had believed in Jesus. We will call them the
believers.

But are these Jewish believers the only ones who qualify as the sons
of the evil ones in this parable? Are they the sole produce of the
bad seed?

No, they are not, and I give two reasons for reaching
this conclusion. First, this is one of those parables that, although
short in itself, nevertheless encompasses the full scope of history. We
know this because it describes a process that is ongoing, and that will
only find its terminus in the harvest, which is the close of the age.
It is therefore clear that other believers are continually
being produced to add to this category, even today and forever while the
world stands and to the close of the age.

Second, consider the sequence of events in the parable. Some will
deny that this is relevant, and I understand their denial comes from their
dedication to interpreting a parable as teaching only a single point of doctrine.
This is, however, clearly contradicted by Jesus' own interpretation
that assigns a meaning to each major element in this parable, making it an
allegory. It is therefore reasonable to find meaning in the sequence
of events -- indeed, it is unreasonable not to find meaning there!
The harvest surely comes after the sowing, in reality and in the parable;
therefore sequence is an important marker. The relevant sequence here
is precisely this: the bad seed gets sown after the good seed! The
clear implication is that this category of sons of the evil one must include
believers who are the produce of bad seed that is sown after the good seed.
If we set the sowing of the good seed, that is, its beginning, with
the proclamation of the gospel of the kingdom in the world by Jesus, then
the bad seed must be sown after the sowing of the good seed. But remember
-- this parable deals only with those who are believers.

Where are we to look for believers -- for persons who have believed
in Jesus -- today? I find it most difficult to find such
believers anywhere other than in churches and similar named assemblies
that are sowing their bad seed throughout the world this very minute. But
I will not settle on this identification quite yet, because Jesus has given
us another marker by which to identify them:

[43] Why do
you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word.
[44] You are of your father the devil, and your will
is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and
has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When
he lies, he speaks according to his own nature, for he is a liar and the
father of lies. [45] But, because I tell the truth, you do not believe
me. [46] Which of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the
truth, why do you not believe me? [47] He who is of God hears the words of God; the
reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.

Now here is a strange seeming contradiction! The evangelist
has told us plainly that these persons were those who had believed in
him (John 8:31) but Jesus now states plainly saying, . . . you do not believe me (what he
says).They are said to believe in
him, but what they are not believing is what he tells them (v. 45 above).

There is a simple reconciliation for this. Believing in
him must mean only believing something about him, whereas actually
believing him means to believe his words -- what he says!There
is no essential relation between these two ideas -- believing him and believing
in him, since the all important thing here is to believe what he said.
Even though they believe in him, Jesus clearly specifies that
they cannot bear to hear my word.And then he explains (v.47 above):

He who is of God hears the words of
God; the reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.

For all of these reasons we must conclude that the
sons of the evil one, in this parable, are the churchmen who only
believe something about Jesus. It
also follows, as does the night the day, that the sowing of the bad seed is
the gospel as preached by the churchmen that only produces more sons of the evil one.I, who was once
in their midst and attempting to preach their gospel against all the forces
of the Holy Spirit moving my soul otherewise, count myself as among
the most blessed of men to have been liberated from that bondage into the
glorious freedom of the True Word.

There is yet another confirmation of this identification of the bad
seed. The Greek for the bad seed (weeds) here is zizanion.Thayer informs us that this is a plant that looks much like
wheat, but is a "kind of darnell, bastard wheat, resembling wheat except that
the grains are black." These weeds are not just any weeds, but are
specifically designed to look like the wheat to a superficial eye! This
once again identifies them with the churchmen, who display themselves to the
world as disciples of Jesus but who, on close examination, are black! The
Greek for the good seed issitos, wheat.

4. The Other ElementsJesus identified all of the other significant elements, and I see
no need to provide further identification. The ones that I have identified
above were needed because the circumstances in the modern world, in Christendom,
are such as to cloud the real identity of the bad seed and this needs clarification.

5. The Process

The process described by this parable is ongoing, and will continue until
the harvest at the close of the age, which is the end of the world and the
resurrection to judgment. Good seed continues to be sown, bad seed
continues to be sown, and both continue to grow together. The sons
of the kingdom are specifically forbidden to do anything about the weeds.
All are to "grow together" until the end. It is this process that we
see at work in the world as the enemy, the devil, uses his agents, the churchmen,
to nurture the bad seed, and the Son of Man continues to nurture the good
seed. This process will not change. The command of the Lord is:
Let both grow together until the harvest.

6. Conclusion

If we had only this Parable of the Weeds, where the soil is not differentiated,
we might conclude that the soil, or the seed receptical, is all the same,
and that the same soil produces different kinds of plants. That is
indeed what we find on the farm and in the garden, and for the purpose of
this parable, that is a sufficient interpretation, since the focus is on
the differing seeds.

Further, if we had only this Parable, we might conclude that the produce
of the good seed always is the same, but even the produce of the good seed
falls into different categories when we resort to the Parable of the Sower.
It is all the produce of good seed, but its destiny is dependent on
the nature of the soil (human hearts) from which it springs. Then, even
that from the good soil, (from an honest and good heart) differs in fruitfulness -- some thirty, some sixty, and
some an hundredfold!

If we had only the Parable of the Sower, where the seed is all the same
and is the Logos, the true Word of God as uttered by Jesus, we would
fail completely to realize the significance of the fact that, as an integral
part of the process, a second kind of seed is being sown in the world, by
the enemy, producing a different kind of plant. The Parable of the Sower
has the plants that come up to be all the same species, but they fare differently
due to the nature of the soil in which they are planted. Here, we have
two different species -- the produce of two different kinds of seed -- that
have sprung up from the same soil, and that fare much the same until the
time of harvest.

There are other supplimentary features of these two parables, but
they will come into focus only after we have investigated yet a third parable
that is complimentary to these two. There is yet something else going
on (or not going on) in the world that these two have not specified, although
one has an allusion to it. I invite our readers
to click on the email link below and submit your suggestion as to the identity
of this third parable and what it adds to complete the picture.